But It's a Dry Heat

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Halloween Playlist and Sandy Claws

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him up real tight
Throw away the key and then
Turn off all the lights

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick
Lock him for ninety years, see what makes him tick.

And so it begins…the holiday season. Actually, in your average retail store, Christmas began about a month ago. I’m not a complete Grinch (more like 45% proof), but I’ve lost my childlike wonder with the Christmas holiday. Well, let’s face it, about 90% of that childlike wonder was actually avarice. Kids are greedy little pirates, looking forward to a mighty haul of swag.

But Christmas is fun, after you subtract the shopping, gift wrapping and other work. I still love putting up a tree; sparkly lights and here in New Mexico, luminarias. This year we’ll get to have X-Mas Eve dinner in our new dining room, instead of stuffed like sardines around our tiny kitchen table.

But…there are days, when I wish Oogie Boogie’s henchmen would kidnap the Sandy Claws.

I like Halloween, with its ghosts and ghoulies. It’s a pity I don’t actually have the time to celebrate it properly. The closest I get is by playing my Halloween playlist over and over. (Because I’m twelve.)

Some of the Songs on my Halloween Playlist

“All the Myths are True,”  Abney Park; “Before I’m Dead,” Kidney Thieves; “Cry Little Sister,” Gerald McMann; “Dead Man’s Party,” Oingo Boingo; “Ghost Love Score,” Nightwish; “A Gorey Demise,” Creature Feature; “Dragula,” Rob Zombie; “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” Sting; “My Beloved Monster,” Eels; “Paint it Black,” Inkubus Sukkubus; “Rawhead and Bloodybones,” Siouxsie and the Banshees; “Re: Your Brains,” Jonathan Coulter; and “The Undertaker,” Puscifer.

What’s on your Halloween playlist?

And Then He Lied to Her

You know how children love to watch the same movie, over and over, and over?  Until, you swear, if you hear Buzz Lightyear say, “To infinity and beyond!” one-more-time, you’re going to start kicking cute puppies and drowning kittens.

I do that with songs.* The invention of headphones was a godsend for any unfortunate soul who’s ever lived with me. Back in the day, I wore out many a cassette tape–rewind, play; rewind, play….

Fortunately, now, there’s my trusty little iPod, a.k.a., Pinky.  (My husband thought it was funny to get his tomboy wife a pink iPod.)

A few weeks ago, I stumbled on the song and video for Josh Ritter’s achingly romantic song, “The Curse,” a song about a mummy who falls in love with an archeologist.

Long ago on the ship
She asked why pyramids
He said “Think of them as an immense invitation.”
She asks “Are you cursed?”
He says “I think that I’m cured.”
Then he kissed her and hoped
That she’d forget that question.

The lyrics inspired my attempt at a comic.  I can’t draw a ship’s cabin, so I opted for museum as a background. (Click image for a larger version.)

*Um.  And I still do this with movies, too.  I’ve seen Serenity, Galaxy Quest, The Princess Bride, and Master and Commander so many times, I know all the dialogue by heart.